Thursday, April 03, 2014

The lineup tonight for the Rangers against the Avalanche here in Denver at Pepsi Center will be the same as Tuesday night’s 3-1 win at Vancouver with one crucial exception - Ryan McDonagh (left shoulder) will not play and John Moore will be back in the lineup after a six-game absence due to concussion symptoms suffered on March 21.

But coach Alain Vigneault is sticking with the same lines to start, though he promises some mixing and matching on the defensive pairs. To start, Moore will skate in McDonagh’s spot with Dan Girardi while Marc Staal sticks with Anton Stralman. But it leaves Moore and Staal as the only two left-handers among the six defensemen. Raphael Diaz has been playing the left side with Kevin Klein but Stralman may see some time as well - he said he was up for the challenge.

Meanwhile, J.T. Miller is no longer with the Rangers, having been sent back to Hartford (AHL) after the team’s charter arrived in Denver on Wednesday from Vancouver.

Coach Alain Vigneault has some stern words for Miller, 21, the 15th overall pick in the 2011 draft that has spent the season shuttling between the Rangers and Wolf Pack.

“He just hasn’t earned the right to be at this level on a regular basis,” Vigneault said. “There needs to be more commitment from his part on the ice and off the ice and until there is he hasn’t earned the right to be at this level on a regular basis.”

And while saying this is not a concern to the organization, Vigneault did challenge Miller’s future in the NHL.

“No, that’s part of any young player going through the process of being an NHL player,” Vigneault said. “You’ve got to figure it out and hopefully he will. And when he does, we’ll have a good player and if he doesn’t figure it out then he’ll be a good minor leaguer.”

Ouch.

Vigneault, though, also included John Moore among the young players who needs to “figure it out,” though, in Miller’s case, he was clearly talking about his on-ice development and not hinting at off-the-ice issues.

“He’s a highly skilled defensmean, a great skater, great shot,” Vigneault said. “The more he plays the more he’s going to understand the game and better his decision process with and without the puck. He’s another young player that needs to figure it out. He’s got a great set of tools. Hopefully by playing he gets better.”

Moore will pick up some of the power-play time that McDonagh usually receives.

“I’m 100 percent ready to go, ready to help the team,” said Moore, who suffered symptoms after being hit by Blake Comeau. ““I feel great. (Assistant coach) Danny Lacroix certainly has been giving it to me these last couple of days. It sucks when you’re not playing, you have to get your feet under you but I’m ready to go.”

Moore doesn’t see his return as pressure to replace what McDonagh brings.

“No, I’m in the lineup, that’s really all I can control,” Moore said. “I get a chance to play my game, it doesn’t matter the circumstances. Obviously it’s tough to lose a guy like Mac but I can’t really worry about that. I can only worry about what I can control and that’s the way I play tonight.”

Moore had been paired with Klein before being hurt. He’s looking forward to the chance to play with a top-pair defenseman in Girardi.

“It’ll be great,” Moore said. “He’s been around a long time, he’s one of the best in this league. I just have to make sure I’m staying on the same page as him, talking to him and I’m not getting in his way and make sure he keeps doing what he’s doing. I don’t know if it matter who’s going up (into the attack) but that’s something the coaching staff stresses here so if I have that opportunity I’m going to be going.”

Also during the Rangers’ morning skate (McDonagh was the only Ranger not on the ice), Carl Hagelin took a Klein shot off his left leg and needed several minutes to skate off the stinger. But he eventually seemed fine and was skating at his usual fast pace.

And Brian Boyle, in a close-to-the-crease drill, beat Lundqvist twice in one sequence with slick goals.
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The Rangers insist nearly as much as they win on the road – an NHL-leading 25 times so far – they play no differently away from home as they do at the often-quiet Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers, who have won seven of eight overall and need any combination of three points gained by them or lost by the Capitals to clinch a playoff spot, face the Avalanche here tonight at Pepsi Center in Denver to conclude a four-game road trip that has started 2-1-0.

“There’s not a home way to play and a road way to play,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “There’s one way to play and we try to play the right away all the time.”

The Rangers, who set a franchise record for road victories in Tuesday’s 3-1 win against John Tortorella’s Canucks, will be without Ryan McDonagh. The No. 1 defenseman appeared to hurt his left shoulder and left Rogers Arena with his left arm in a sling after Alex Burrows drove him into the boards with 43.8 seconds remaining.

McDonagh, whose left arm was in a sling on Tuesday night, was not seen at Pepsi Center this morning as the Rangers skated. John Moore will be back in the lineup after missing six games after suffering concussion symptoms at Columbus on March 21. Moore will start the game paired with Dan Girardi in McDonagh’s spot.

Coach Alain Vigneault called McDonagh “day to day” and said he doesn’t expect his No. 1 defenseman to be out for a lengthy period.

That win over the Blue Jackets is part of the Rangers’ current 6-1-0 road streak. Overall, the Rangers are 25-14-0 on the road and have compiled two, six-game road winning streaks – from Oct. 26-Nov. 23 and Jan. 4-Feb. 7 – for the first time in franchise history.

After tonight’s game, the Rangers have one road game left, the season-finale at Montreal on April 12.

“This is a team that’s very resilient, tough to play against,” said Marty St. Louis, whose shorthanded goal at Vancouver marked his first goal in 15 games with the Rangers. “This is playoff-style hockey. We’re not going to be a team that has to turn a switch and change a few things. It’s felt like playoff hockey all along.”

About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.